Ireland’s commitment to disarmament and non-proliferation for International Day of Peace

The Minister of State for European Affairs, Lucinda Creighton T.D., spoke in this afternoon’s topical issues debate in the Dáil to mark the International Day of Peace.  The Minister highlighted the important work which Ireland will be undertaking this year in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation.

The Minister said:
“An important objective for the coming year will be to negotiate a strong and robust Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) at a Diplomatic Conference in New York. This must address the challenges posed by unregulated trade in conventional arms and their diversion to the illicit market and must prevent these weapons from threatening security and development or violating human rights and international humanitarian law.”

“Ireland has been active in preparatory work for an ATT and continues to be a priority issue.   There will also be a review in 2012 of the UN Programme of Action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, which causes death and injury to hundreds of thousands of people every year, and Ireland will work to strengthen the Programme of Action.
 
“The Government remains firmly committed to the elimination of all cluster munitions which cause unacceptable harm to civilians and implementation and universalisation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), adopted in Dublin in 2008, is a key objective.  At the Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut earlier this month, Ireland was appointed Coordinator on Clearance for 2012-13.    It is the Government’s intention to work hard in the year ahead to make significant progress in supporting implementation of the CCM on this key provision.”